ABSTRACT
During experiments on the catalase content of sea-urchin spermatozoa, opportunities arose of measuring the catalatic activity of sea-urchin eggs. Fertilized and unfertilized eggs of Echinus esculentus were examined, the jelly having been removed in each case. Holter & Linderstrom-Lang (1936) and Holter (1937) investigated the catalase content of sea-urchin eggs, but they were particularly concerned with the location of this enzyme in the cell. The catalatic activity of sea-urchin eggs has attracted attention on several occasions in the past (see, for example, Kobert, 1903), but the results were unquantitative and sometimes contradictory. Furthermore, no workers examined the effect of low concentrations of hydroxylamine on the apparent catalatic activity of these cells. Hydroxylamine is a specific inhibitor of catalase as opposed to other substances which catalytically decompose H2O2 into O2 and H2O.
